


What a Clever Girl

by Evil_Cleavage



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Family Drama, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-24 18:18:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7518334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Cleavage/pseuds/Evil_Cleavage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emma and Hook travel back to when Snow White and Prince Charming met, only to royally screw things up, they meet an interesting girl when they go to the only person in the Enchanted Forest who can help them, Rumpelstiltskin. (Set at the end of Season 3 and the beginning of season 4)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Snow Drifts

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys really enjoy it. I enjoyed writing it!

"Can you help us?" The female asked, her voice carrying out down the hallway.

"Help you? I can work on getting you your portal to the future open again. But getting your parents together? You made that mess, deary, only you know whatcha did. Now go undo it." The Dark One told her, as the young girl peered around the corner. While Rumpelstiltskin walked away, he vanished in a swirl of dark red smoke, while the girl looked at his visitors. He gets many different sorts all of the time, but never had she seen a man like him.

"If she's looking for passage out of town, I might know a ships captain that can help us." The man said, and as Evie got a better look at him she got excited. She saw something silver and shiny glint, and assumed it was a dagger. An awkwardly curved dagger.

"Who?" The blonde asked, to which the man smiled.

"Me." With that, she darted out from her little hiding spot and hurried over to them.

"Are you a pirate?" She asked, getting the leather clad man's attention. Now that she was closer she could see it wasn't a knife at all, but a hook.

"Aye lass." He replied, giving her a small smile.

"Wow." She smiled brightly, moving closer and circling him before she backed off slightly. "I've never seen a pirate in the flesh." Her family hadn't been to keen on letting her socialize often, which meant she's pretty much new to everything. She hasn't even been in a tavern! Or seen a castle close up! She hasn't seen or done lots of things. She couldn't help her little giggle of excitement, and the pirate didn't seem to mind.

"Hey kid, who are you?" The blonde asked her, drawing her attention away from the pirate. "I don't remember Mr. G- Rumpelstiltskin having a daughter." She stumbled with her words, but corrected herself before she confused the girl. Something about her reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place it.

"He's not my father. He's letting me stay until my mother is ready for me to come home." She explained, leaning back on the table they were next too, pushing herself up to sit on it.

"Who is your mother? Why do you have to wait?" The woman asked her, which prompted Evie to shrug.

"I'm not quite sure, but I do know that she's a queen!" She boasted happily, proud of that. "I wasn't safe when I was born, and had to be hidden. Then about two years ago, Rumple took me from the family who raised me. Told me I could be with my real mother soon." Her smile was big, as she truly believed that. "My mother is waiting until I'd be safe to let me return. I even have-" She was pulling something from her dress before red smoke enveloped her, transporting her to her room. Well, it wasn't really hers. But Rumple let her have it. She was suddenly sitting on her bed, instead of the table, while Rumple had walked back into the room, mostly ignoring the two.

"That's enough from you, silly girl." He muttered, talking to himself.

But all of the eyes in the room turned as bright white smoke formed, transporting Evie back into the room. "That won't work on me anymore." Evie giggled, dropping her hand to her side.

"And just how did you learn to do that?" Rumple asked her with a tilt of his head, while Emma watched her with sort of amazed eyes.

"She has magic?" Emma found herself asking. She hadn't met many other magic users that weren't evil, yet nothing about this girl seemed bad at all. And the magic, it was so white. It wasn't just like a colorless white, but like life, joy, it almost sparkled. It was beautiful.

"A family trait, unfortunately." Rumple muttered, but was only close enough for Hook and Emma to hear him. Not that he intended to say it out loud.

"Mostly from watching you do it. Then trying it on my own until it worked." Evie told him. He had been teaching her some magic, but nothing too advanced. Just helping her developed the skills she was born with, the magic that her adoptive family didn't let her practice.

"Clever girl. Dear I say, more so than your mother." The Dark One said, this time loud enough for her to hear. He turned his gaze on the two future dwellers, his cold stare showed no emotion. "You're still here?" He asked, then made a shooing hand gesture. "Go now, off to save the future!" He chuckled, his voice growing higher as they turned to leave. Both of them knew pissing off the Dark One was unwise, even more so in a world where he doesn't know them.

When they reached the door, Emma turned and stopped to look at the girl, which prompted Evie to give her an enthusiastic wave. Emma gave her a half smile as she walked out the door. Evie's smiled turned to Rumple, who had a strange expression on his face. She raised her arm and made a fist, squeezing her hand into a tight fist as the white magic surrounded her ad brought her back up to her room.

From the pocket on her dress, she pulled out the small portrait of her mother that the Dark One had gifted her. It was more so to stop the moping that she had to wait to see her mother, and to help raise her spirits that she would meet the woman who actually wanted her, unlike a family afraid of her. She smiled at the portrait, holding it close before putting it back. Soon. She could feel it, she would meet her soon.


	2. There's No Place Like Home pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna thank rollyjogerjones for being the first to bookmark my story, and vampcoffeegyrl23 and the guest for the kudos! I'm glad you guys like the story~

After looking through books, Evie had totally drained all her energy. She enjoyed reading about magic, and different spells, but when all you can do is sit around reading because that's the most freedom you get, it tends to wear you out faster. She laid back on the bed, content to just fall asleep right there. She laid there thinking, imagining what it would be like to meet her mother. It's what she did the most, during her time here. She pictured this happy moment, walking through the door, and seeing her mother standing there. When their eyes would meet they would just know, and she would be happy. A mother who would be happy to have her. A mother who doesn't want to hide what she is and what she can do. Or at least, from her impression from Rumple.

She could picture herself at the small house she grew up in, being kept near the house while her siblings were let out to play with the older children. Her parents were never unkind to her, they never beat her or hurt her, but they feared her. They feared what she could become, what everyone would think. They feared the man who brought her to them, feared if they gave her the same freedom, it would anger him. It instead led to a lonely life. Her so called siblings could care less for her, poking fun at her the way they did, along with some of the neighboring children. Despite how sad and lonely they made her feel, she didn't hate them. She was happy, she never had to go back there again. Even here, in this dark empty castle, she has Belle. Belle likes talking to her, Rumple has at least been teaching her some magic, it's more than she's used to having.

She smiled in her bed before she began to feel cold. It was quick, the cold, then the sleep that over took her. Then there was nothing, no blackness, to floating feeling, just nothing. A frost had taken over her body, leaving her to sleep until woken. The Dark One watched her, thinking for a moment he felt something, but it was gone as quick as it came. "Sorry, dearie... Can't have you interfering with my plans." He commented softly, then with a wave of his hand he moved her down to his vault, where she would remain undisturbed until it was time to wake her. She was learning too much too fast, much faster than Regina, even Zelena. Given enough time and she would have found her own way to find her mother, and he wasn't ready to give Regina her happiness. Not until the curse had been enacted, and they were all brought to the new world. Until then, Evie would remain where she would be out of the way.

Rumple went back to trying to figure out the spell he had been working on, which was easy enough for him. If there was one thing he was truly gifted at, it was understanding magic. Especially after all these years. He didn't even blink as the future dwellers burst in all rude like, not even bothering to knock. "We did it!" Emma announced, rather loudly.

"You're parents are together?" He asked.

"They're right back on track. We're ready to go." She sounded so sure about herself, confident. He wasn't lying before when he told her he liked it.

He looked at them, sporting that smile of his. "I see. And you brought some luggage." He pointed out, more as an observation, pointing to the lass over the pirates shoulder.

"Long story." Emma said, not going into detail. Not that he particularly cared to know the details anyway. "So, how's the portal coming? Can you open it?" She asked, sounding very hopeful.

He took a breath in, before giving them the bad news. "I cannot." He looked back down to what he was working on. There was silence, while they took that in.

"Well then what are you working on?" He was asked.

"Oh, this is for me. A forgetting potion. I know too much about my future. The only way to protect it, is to forget it." He explained as he corked the bottle he had.

"Well what about this wand? You said it could help us." Emma said, motioning towards the wand.

"Oh that? Well, apparently, only those who used the portal can re-open it. So unless you can wield magic, I'm afraid you're going no-where." He tossed Emma the wand, which she caught before going, "Can ya?" He waited for her to reply, but she said nothing. Which again didn't surprise him. "Thought not."

"So you just expect us to stay here?" Hook asked, giving him a hard look. "What about protecting your precious future?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do." Rumple replied. He already had things figured out, already had a plan. Like he always does.

The pirate unsheathed his sword, aiming it at him, which simply made him giggle. "He means to kill us, Swan." He said.

"No. I mean to put you someplace safe! Someplace even I dare not go. Where I store the magic that is too dark or unpredictable, even for me!" He explained, never dropping that crocodile like smile.

"Rumplestilt-" Emma began, but with a flick of his hand the deep reddish purple smoke took them away, bringing them to the same place he had just stored Evie. Even if they woke her, not even Evie could get them out of there.


	3. There's No Place Like Home pt. 2

The pair looked around the room that was to be their prison, and it seemed to go on forever. A ceiling that seemed to never end, but Emma knew it was just magic making it seem so. "No..." She breathed out, as Hook set the woman's body down on the table. Not that Emma would have done any different. As they looked around, Hook began to talk. "Oh, well at least he did us one favor. I'm devilishly handsome again." He grinned, turning to look at her. While he amused himself, Emma was not in a mood to smile. As she walked forward, she noticed something she initially thought was odd. Feet. She leaned her head over, and could see a skirt, and instantly she feared for the worse.

"Hook!" She said urgently, rushing over to the side of the body, unable to stop her gasp as she saw who it was. It was the girl, the one who was waiting to go home. Emma understood what she was talking about before, in wanting a home, a family that wants you. And then here she lays, seemingly frozen on the table. "No..." She sighed out, brushing her finger over the girls cheek, and couldn't help the pity she felt. Leave it to the Dark One to not even let a little girl, well, teenage girl, be with her family. She really needs to stop letting herself be disappointed by Rumpelstiltskin. She noticed something that stuck out from the girls pocket, and seeing as she wasn't going to currently miss it, Emma didn't stop herself from grabbing it.

"What happened to her?" Hook asked, walking to stand next to Emma.

"Who do you think happened?" Emma asked bitterly, but the little frame wasn't what she expected. No, that couldn't be right. She blinked, then looked once more to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Could this be her mother? There could be no other explanation for her having a portrait like this. She moved it to show Killian, giving him a funny expression.

"Why would she have that?" He asked, grabbing the small portrait to get a better look at. "Why would anyone just have this in their pocket?" He asked as Emma took it back.

"Unless that this is her mother." Emma said, giving him a look, and the realization dawned on him, quickly. But the sudden hand that snatched the portrait from her hand startled her. Her eyes focused in on the girl that was no longer frozen, watched as she held the portrait close. "Woah, kid, hey." She said, stepping forward to place a hand on her shoulder. "What happened to you?" Emma asked, clearly concerned. It was probably just her own motherly instincts, but she was worried. "You were frozen."

"I'm not sure. Last thing I remember was feeling cold, and now, I'm here. Where is here?" She asked, looking around at the place they were in. She'd never seen this part of the castle before.

"We're in his vault. Rumple's, I mean." Emma said, but the girl didn't seem to really pay attention. "Hey kid, what's your name?" She asked.

"Evie." She responded, sliding off the table. Despite being a princess-pop just minutes ago, she seemed perfectly dry. Like the ice or now, or frost, whatever it was just disappeared and left no trace what so ever. Together they left the little side room she had been placed in, wandering back into the place that the had entered. Emma didn't know how to tell her, or if she should tell her. If she got locked in here in the past, it must have meant she never made it home. Was it really Emma's place to tell her? Even so, how would she say it? Hey, we just met but I saw the picture of your mom and I know her, I could tell you who she is and you could go to her right now! Like, how do you even begin that conversation?

Evie seemed to know better than to tough the things around here, however, Hook seemed to have other ideas, just grabbing at things willy nilly. He had opened a cabinet and pulled out a silver urn looking thing, which made Emma nearly have a heart attack. "Wait. Don't touch anything!" She exclaimed. "If Rumple's afraid of this stuff, there has to be a reason." And like that Hook set it back down, before backing off. At least he didn't act like a kid who got caught with his had in the cookie jar. That would not have made this situation any better.

"Just trying to figure a way out." He said in his own defense.

"I don't think there is one. And what's the point? You heard what he said. We can't reopen the portal." Emma said, sounding as defeated as she usually did when she gave up too early.

"What portal?" Evie asked, her fingers ghosting over the object she was looking at.

"Ah, uh, a portal that will bring us back to the future." Emma said, finding it weird when she looked at her. It all made sense now, why she looked so familiar. It was almost creepy. She felt a little ashamed she didn't figure it out sooner.

"The future?" Evie asked skeptically, giving them both a look.

"Yeah, it's a long story." Emma replied.

Hook watched them briefly, but interjecting. "Not that this wouldn't be a thrilling tale to tell, but you can, love." Hook said, giving her a look. He did truly believe that she could open it. She could get them home, she just had to believe that she could do it. "All he said we need is magic. You're the savior, Swan, you can do it."

"You have magic?" Evie piped in, stepping close to the pair of them.

"Not anymore, I lost it." Emma said as a reply to them both.

"When Zelena died, all of her spells were undone. Your powers should have been restored." Hook said, and he did make a valid point.

"Believe me, if I could make it work, I would. Do you think I'm faking it?" Emma asked.

"Whose Zelena?" Evie asked, but she was given a look by Hook, as she wasn't making this easier on him.

"We'll explain later." Hook told Evie, before looking to Emma. "I think not having magic makes it a hell of a lot easier for you to run back to New York and pretend to be somebody else." He said, and Evie almost felt like she was intruding now. It was like listening to Belle and Rumple when they bickered, thought never usually to this degree. This was personal, she could feel it. She opened her mouth to ask what New York was, but Hook stopped that with one look. "But listen to me Swan, you're not. It's time to stop running." He stepped closer, but this time Evie remained quiet.

"You think I don't know that?" Emma asked, moving closer and talking in a quieter voice. There was silence briefly, but you could feel the emotion cut through the silence like a sharpened blade would cut through skin. "Yes, I run away. That's how I've always survived. But believe me, I want this to work. I want to go back. I want to stop running."

Again there was silence, before Hook spoke. "What changed your mind?" He asked, neither of the two focused on Evie currently. Though she was watching them like a teenager hanging on every line from one of the Twilight movies.

There were several moments before Emma responded, and when she did Evie wasn't expecting to feel so bad for Emma. "Watching my mother die. Thinking she was dead... You saw what happened. I was so relieved when she was okay, and I hugged her. And you know what I saw in her eyes? Nothing. She didn't know who I was." Emma voice broke, her eyes welling up with tears. "I had saved her and lost her, too." The tears began rolling down her face, and Evie wanted to cry right along with her. "And that's what I've been doing to her since I met her. It's got to stop." Evie was sad for a different reason. For Emma, that was her reality, for Evie, it was a nightmare she hoped would never come true. She's imagined all of these wonderful moments meeting her mother, but what if her mother doesn't know her? What if that was the reaction she got? "When Henry brought me to Storybrooke, he told me I was the savior. I didn't see what he was really doing. He was not bringing me back to break a curse. He was bringing me home." The mood seemed to be lightening up, which was nice. But it didn't make Evie fear the future any less. "Neal was right."

"About what?" Hook asked.

"You don't have a home, until you miss it." Emma said with a slight smile. "And being with my parents the last few days but not really being with them? I've never missed them more. Storybrooke. It's my home." She admitted, but Evie was noticing and paying attention to something else. "What?" She asked as her and Hook shared a look.

"Look down." He told her, motioning to her hand with his head. And just like Evie was watching, the wand was working. "I'd say you've got your magic back. Now, shall we go?" He asked, stepping aside. Evie watched, curious to see what was about to happen as she held the wand up and began to focus. Very shortly afterwards, a giant golden portal opened, and Evie couldn't contain her gasp. "Yupp, well done Swan." The pirate said, grabbing the unconscious lady on the table before he stepped forward to walk through the portal.

Emma was about to follow suit, but she looked at Evie, and stared before walking over to her. "Come with us." She said, making Evie look at her.

"But if I leave, what about my mother?" She asked, looking nervously at the portal before looking back at Emma.

"I know your mother. I can take you to her. I promise I can bring you to her, but if you stay he may never let you two be together." Emma told her, and Evie stared at the portal once more before looking at Emma. Part of her knew Emma was right, she could feel it in her gut, but she ignored it just for the sake of hope that she would be with her real mother. She nodded before running forward into the portal, not stopping to look back once. Emma smiled, then walked forward to enter herself.

A voice behind her made her stop and turn around. "You opened it?" Of course it had to be him. "Wait." He grabbed her arm, keeping her from going into the portal.

"Let me go!" Emma yelled, fighting his grip.

"My son. What happens when I find him?" Rumple asked, truly wanting to know.

"I thought you wanted to forget?" Emma asked, looking between him and the portal.

"Before I do, I need to know. Does he forgive me?" Rumple asked softly.

"Yes." Emma answered.

"Yes but what?" His tone lowered, sounding angry that she seemed to be hiding something. "What aren't you telling me?" His grip growing tighter if anything, until she told him. "Tell me or you will never leave!" He threatened.

"He dies." She told him, but he said nothing. "He forgives you. He loved you. He died to save all of us. Don't let that be in vain."

"No I-I can change what happened. I-I can save my boy!" Rumple started, but Emma was quick to put a stop to that.

"You think you can change the future, but you might make it worse. I loved him too, I wanted to save him." Emma cried. "He died a hero. You can't take that away from him. You have to drink the potion. You have to forget everything I just told you!" Emma told him, as he looked at the bottle in his hand. With one motion he released her, letting her go flying into the portal as he lifted the vile to his lips, drinking down the potion he created, while the portal closed as Emma flew into it.


	4. There's No Place Like Home pt. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer Oreasa's question, no. While I'm very happy to see that someone knows where I got Evie's name from, (Daughter of the Evil Queen in Disney's Descendants) she does not have blue hair and wear wickedly awesome outfits. At least, not like Evie from Descendants. I know I haven't described her much, but if you need a picture reference to what she looks like, Madison McLaughlin is pretty close to what I pictured, only with her father's blue eyes.

When the portal opened, Evie couldn't help her shriek as they were tossed out onto the ground. While Hook and the woman he had been holding fell first, she came out right after and landed on Hook, her knee ending up in a place that made Hook groan in pain, rolling to move her off of him. When she moved onto her knees, she touched his shoulder gently, concerned she really hurt him. "Are you okay?" She asked, followed by apologizing. "I'm so sorry!" She really feel terrible.

"It's fine, I'm alright, love." He wheezed, holding gently onto the sore spot between his legs. "You're not to blame." Evie nodded, but still wished she had at least used magic to stop her fall. Then she wouldn't have hurt him. Emma had stood, and after a moment offered the pirate her hand, which he took but got up a little slowly when he was ready to stand.

"I need you to do me a favor." Emma started once Hook was vertical. "Fill them in, make sure they don't freak out." She said as she turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Hook asked before Evie could.

"I have some people I need to see." She replied with a smile before turning and running out of the barn. She was gone before Evie could protest. She had someone she needed to see also! She let out a sigh, her gaze going to Hook as he began to talk.

"Well, uh..." He started, unsure exactly how he wanted to begin this conversation. "We just went about thirty years into the future. A couple of years from when you were imprisoned," he motioned to the dark skinned woman he had been carrying. "The Evil Queen let loose a curse. This curse brought everyone from the Enchanted Forest here, to Storybrooke. A land without magic. Then Emma broke the curse close to two years ago, and this leading to where we are now." He tried to keep it short.

"Thirty years?" Evie asked.

"Yes. The curse kept everyone frozen in time, just as they were when the curse took them from your world." Hook said.

"This is madness!" The woman beside her said, but Evie disagreed.

"No, it's magic." She's read about what magic can do, heard of some of the things that Rumple had done. The woman gave her a look, but said nothing.

"Well, now that that is out of the way, let's go to town. Oh, stay on the path I walk on. You might get hurt walking in the road." He added in, and began to lead them from the barn. Evie tried her hardest to not get distracted, but side from the houses and strange lanterns, almost everything was new to her. Hook tried to keep her focus on where they were going, and of course giving his best explanation for things they past. He's not an expert on this world, and Snow White and her family would be much better for this particular job. As they began to approach a well lit building with many people inside. "You ca go in there, there's food. Snow White and Prince Charming are there, along with Emma." He explained, but Evie watched as he was content to sit outside alone. She turned and headed into the door, Marian following suit.

The little bell dinged as the door opened, and the pair walked in. Evie looked around, a smile on her face as Emma walked over to them. She guided them over to a table with exceptionally comfy looking seats. "Everyone, this is..." Emma started, then let them introduce themselves, as she didn't actually know their names.

"Evie." The girl said, giving them a smile, then turning to the woman she walked in with.

"Marian." She said before they were all greeted by everyone there.

"Hey, can I talk to you two for a sec?" Evie heard Emma say quietly, leaning between the pair introduced as her parents. Considering they all looked the same age, she guessed it was the curse. She watched them hand the baby off to Henry while the three went off to a corner to talk. Evie slid into the seat next to Henry, looking down at the baby he was holding.

"This is baby Neal." Henry told her with a smile, while Evie watched the child. He was so little, so fragile looking. "So who are you in the Enchanted Forest?" He found himself asking her, but she just gave her a weird look. "Oh, sorry, you don't know." With his free hand he pushed the book at her, then let her flip through the pages. She stared at it, then pulled it closer, looking at the pages and starting to read the words.

"What's this?" She asked, giving him a look.

"That's the history of everyone in this town, before the curse." Henry explained.

She continued to flip through pages until she came across a face she would always know. Rumpelstiltskin. "The Dark One!" She said with a smile. "I know him."

"Well yeah, everyone kows him." Henry chuckled. Evie gave him a small smile as she went back to looking at the book. She flipped through a few more pages, until she landed upon an illustration with a familiar face. "That's my mom. Well, one of my moms." Henry said, but Evie didn't look away from it. "Back in the Enchanted Forest she was the Evil Queen. Here she's totally good now." He said with a large smile, but all Evie could do was bite her bottom lip. She heard the bell ring when the door opened, but she was too busy reading about her mother. All she seemed to be doing was threatening people and being, well, evil. But Henry told her that she's good now, which made her smile.

"Regina, there's something you should know." She heard Emma say, but she didn't know who Regina was, so why was it her problem?

"Could I borrow this?" Evie asked Henry, lifting one side of the book.

"Yeah, totally." Henry said, giving her a smile. "It's probably best you do read it, see what you missed jumping through time."

"Honestly, I don't know who any of these people are." Evie told him. "I never heard of an Evil Queen or Snow White. I hardly knew the people in my village. The people who raised me, they didn't like my magic. They tried hiding me, thinking I would do something horrible or hurt someone." Evie explained.

"That sounds awful." Snow White said as they moved back over to the booth, her and her husband.

"It wasn't all bad. They weren't mean. Belle told me they just didn't know how to handle my being different." She smiled then. There was a slight commotion behind them, but between the group hugging and Emma, she couldn't really see what was going on. She could hear Emma talking to someone, but she couldn't see the person, but shortly after she could hear her.

"Never thinking of consequences." The woman had said, and Emma replied before the woman spoke again. "Of course you didn't. Well you better hope to hell you didn't bring anything back back."

"I kind of, already have..." Emma said, then turned to give Evie a look.

"Of course you have!" The woman's voice raised, scoffing at Emma. Emma motioned for Evie to join her, so she stood. As she neared, she could see the woman's face and she paused. It was her, it was her mother. Regina's brown eyes locked on hers and disbelief plastered her face, unsure even what to think. "E-Evie?" She choked out, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared. Evie wanted to say something, wanted to do something. Her throat was dry and her feet felt like lead. "T-that's not possible. You died." Her tone turned sour, her gaze going to Emma. "What kind of game are you playing?!" She accused, her eyes burning with anger. "What kind of trick are you and him trying to play on me?! Are you that determined to make my life miserable?" She demanded. "You're not my daughter, you;re not my Evie!" Regina hissed at her, turning her gaze onto her.

She took a step back, right into Snow White who had moved closer. She looked at her before looking back at her mother. It was what she feared, her mother didn't want her. Didn't want to believe that she was who she said she was. "Regina!" Snow scolded, putting a hand on Evie's shoulder which she shook off.

"Evie died years before I even considered the curse! That's not her." Regina seethed as Evie felt the tears rolling down her face. She took the small framed portrait from her pocket and stared blankly at it before she dropped it. The clattering of it on the floor got there attention as she raised her hand and formed a tight fist, the glittering white smoke enveloping her.

"No!" She heard Emma exclaim, but she was already gone. She had pictured the only place in this world that she could remember; the barn. As the smoke cleared, she could see the empty barn. She noticed ice on the round, but she didn't care. She sniffled as she squatted down to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. 


	5. There's No Place Like Home pt. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter taking place in Season 3 Episode 22, I promise.

"Nice going, Regina." Emma snapped, following closely after the witch who was in an obvious hurry somewhere. Emma was angry at Regina. Sure, she may have just ruined the woman's love life, but how was she suppose to know that Marian was Robin's wife and that Regina thought her daughter was long dead? She couldn't have known because no one told her. Not that she was one hundred percent certain that Evie was Regina's daughter until tonight.

"How was I suppose to know it wasn't a trick?!" Regina snarled, but never stopped her powerwalk. "I was told years before Snow met Charming that she died!"

"Who would tell you she died?" Emma asked, nearly running to keep up with Regina. Honestly, she'd never seen her so worked up. "And what could they gain from it?" She added in, before Regina could answer.

"I don't know. But I'm about to find out." Regina wasn't saying this directly to Emma, not that she really cared if she was heard. Honestly, she was just angry. Angry that in one night she lost the man she loved and lost her daughter for the third time in her life. Why did the universe have to be so against her being happy? With a swipe of her hand, the door to the pawn shop flew from it's spot, crashing into the middle of the road, glass and metal in pieces everywhere. The pirate ahd been following them, but stopped when the door went flying. It was then he turned back and headed straight for the diner. Emma hadn't seen where Regina was going until the door of the place she walked into was torn off.

"Regina!" Emma scolded, not that Regina cared anymore. Emma jogged into the store behind Regina, but didn't approach. She's seen what happens when you try to stop Regina after she get's going.

"Gold!" Regina hollered, circling around once to see if he appeared. But of course, nothing. With a frustrated noise, Regina grabbed the nearest object and smashed in the nearest glass display. "Rumplestiltskin!" But again, nothing.

"Regina! Stop this." Emma ordered, but Regina responded by spinning on her heel to give Emma a dirty look, one that shut her up.

"Rumplestiltkin, get your ass in here now!" She yelled, aiming her magic at the display counter with the register, forcing it to topple over, the sound of the crash was loud, making Regina's ears ring, but she didn't have enough energy to care. She was forcing all of her anger on the one man who seems to be behind almost all of her suffering.

"Is there a reason you're summoning me _and_ destroying my shop on my wedding night?" He asked, his voice making both ladies in the store turn to see him in the doorway to the back.

"You bastard." Regina seethed, summoning a fire ball and launching it towards his face, which he dealt with with a twitch of his finger.

"What is it you're accusing me of this time?" He asked impatiently, obviously annoyed.

"You told me she died!" Regina accused, which made a confused look cross his face until he understood exactly what she meant.

"She did." Rumple answered simply, the coy smirk he usually donned falling into a more serious expression.

"Then explain to me how Emma brought her back from a time she was dead?" She spat, a fire burning in her eyes almost hot enough to burn holes through him.

"I needed you focused. Motivated. I needed all of your anger directed at Snow White. I needed you to hate her for taking your true love, for making you give up your child who died without knowing you. For taking away the happy life you could have led." Rumple explained like it didn't matter. To him, it didn't. He got what he wanted.

"That news destroyed me!" Regina sobbed, and it wasn't until then that Emma had even noticed she was crying.

"I intended to return her to you, right after you enacted the curse. But then you took Belle from me. Told me that she was dead, when instead you held her hostage. So I decided to leave her under a spell, never to awaken. Locked forever in my vault to never awaken. Then tell you, let you live with the knowledge you'd never see your daughter again." Rumple told her, kicking away a large piece of glass as he walked forward.

"You put her under the sleeping curse?!" Regina raged, knowing what that would mean.

"Of course not. I wasn't about to punish her for your mistake, so just a sleeping spell that would keep her exactly as she was went I put it over her, until she would be touched by someone else, and which case the spell would break. But she was placed in such a location that she wouldn't be woken." He explained.

"Until you placed Hook and I in your vault, and I woke her." Emma said, things making slightly more sense. Finding the girl frozen, hidden in a corner. "Why did you put her to sleep in the first place? You had already told Regina she was dead, why wasn't she asleep sooner?" She asked, causing Regina to voice her opinion on wanting to know as well, only in a much less happy tone.

"She was naturally gifted at magic, much like Zelena. Clever little thing. So quick at learning new spells, even something she was never taught. She learned magic faster than anyone I had ever seen or heard of. It was only a matter of time before she learned how to use her magic to find you without me, and I couldn't have that until I was ready to return her to you." Gold said, his hands gripping the top of his cane.

"Well now she's loose and running around a land she doesn't understand. You're going to help us find her." Regina said quickly, squeezing something tightly in her hands. Emma couldn't see what it was, but she could see a bit of chain dangling from the death grip on whatever it was.

"No, I won't." He stated, giving them a look with a shake of his head. "I'm going to go spend tonight with my new bride. Evie is your problem." With that, he was gone. Leaving the two standing there as Regina went back to trashing the place.

"Damn him!" Regina cursed, kicking something over before starting to pace.

"Regina." Emma said, trying to get her attention, but it didn't seem to work. "Regina, stop!" Emma yelled, making her look at the savior.

"What, Miss Swan?" Regina snapped, treating her how she thought she should be treated, because her own self pity was clouding her judgement.

"We'll find her." Emma told her, more determined than ever right now to make things better for Regina. While the Evie situation wasn't her fault, the Marian thing was. Emma owed her, and she was about to make sure that Regina found her daughter.

Regina gave Emma a hard look, before walking past her and outside, grumbling as she went, "Well, let's go." Emma nodded and followed her out, but walked into her back as Regina stopped jsut outside the door.

"Regina..." Emma scolded, then walked around her before seeing what she saw. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked, looking over at the group standing outside the shop.

"We're here to help!" Henry chirped in with a smile, giving Regina a smile that was warm enough even to make her smile after everything she's been through tonight.

"I figured no good would come from asking the crocodile for help, so I asked them. And the others volunteered." Hook explained, giving Emma a smile, motioning to the others.

"Plus the more of us that split up to search, the faster we'll find her." David mentioned. But he wasn't who Regina was focusing on. Her gaze stayed on Robin, who stood there with three of his men who came to the diner with him, each willing to help find the missing teenage girl. "So let's go find her." The others nodded and were about to start splitting sections of the town to check, before Regina interrupted them.

"Hold on." She opened her palm, revealing a large locket, which Emma guessed was what she had been gripping so tightly. She waved her hand over the object, before everyone got a copy, while Regina kept the original. "That will help you find her." She added in, everyone opening the locket to find a rather outdated portrait of Evie, but you would know her when you saw her, Emma could tell that much.

"Where did you get this?" Emma asked, causing the others to look at her, wondering as well.

"Gold. He enchanted it so the picture would change as she grew, allowing me to watch her grow up." Regina said simply, before everyone went back to dividing up the town. As everyone set off to begin their searching, Emma watched Regina as she teleported herself off to where she was suppose to search, before Emma smiled to Henry, who would be searching with her.

"Let's go then, kid." Emma said, as she set a hand on his shoulder to head towards the middle of town, where they were to begin searching.

**Author's Note:**

> I have more chapters ready to post, so I can't wait to post them for you!


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